BIG CITY LIFE

How do you fill a grim grey December day with a little joy? Go for some extreme Bento-boxing.

This particular winter-pick-me-up saw us head to the City to Japanese restaurant Mugen, based in Monument. True to form, I was unable to decide upon one thing on the menu so opted for a little of everything. Think grilled black cod, miso soup and teriyaki beef...

Drinks-wise, this is generally my ritual in a Japanese restaurant: I always love the idea of Saki, get a bit shocked by how small the bottle/carafe is when it arrives and then am shocked again when we struggle to finish it. Well if the glass is this small...(see below)

Post-lunch I had a little stroll, gawped at the Walkie-Talkie and the Cheese Grater for a bit and wandered through Leadenhall Market. Having spent five years working in the West End, I'm always quite in awe of the big city life with its army of mega buildings and suited and booted city slickers. (One occasion I haven't been allowed to forget was being totally dumbfounded by a particular piece of ancient architecture which then, rather underwhelmingly, transpired to be a shopping mal.)

And sure enough, it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

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